Displaying items by tag: Fine

South Africa: Lafarge Industries SA has admitted taking part in a cement cartel and agreed to pay a US$19.6m penalty. The company reached the settlement with the South African Competition Commission after admitting to having taken part in price fixing and market division in the cement industry. As part of the deal Lafarge agreed to pay the penalty, 6% of its 2010 annual turnover in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) region, which covers South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia.

The case, which has been running since 2008, has investigated dealings at Lafarge, Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC), AfriSam and Natal Portland Cement-Cimpor (NPC-Cimpor). Following a 2009 raid at the offices of the accused parties, PPC applied for leniency and confirmed the existence of a cartel among the four cement producers. In December 2011, an agreement was reached with Afrisam, in which it confirmed the information provided by PPC and agreed to pay a US$16.5m penalty, representing 3% of its 2010 annual turnover in the SACU region.

The commission said that it will continue to investigate NPC-Cimpor.

Mexico: Mexico's antitrust commission said it has fined the country's biggest cement company Cemex US$796,000 following an investigation into a failed attempt by a competitor to import cement into Mexico in 2004.

The Federal Competition Commission (CFC) said that the fine was for 'relative monopolistic practices,' which can include displacing competitors from the market.

Cemex said that it had been notified of the ruling, which it considers unfounded, and plans to contest it. "Cemex always acts in strict accordance with the law and will proceed with the legal resources that apply in this case," the company said.

The antitrust investigation followed a complaint by a group that was blocked from importing cement from Russia in 2004. Comercio para el Desarrollo Mexicano (CDM), which had been formed by local entrepreneurs and several foreign partners, was kept from unloading a 26,000t shipment, and had said it intended to import up to 0.5Mt/yr.

Australia: The Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) has charged Cockburn Cement with causing pollution in a southern Perth neighbourhood and contravening conditions of its environmental licence after lime kiln dust escaped from its Perth plant on 28 April 2010. The company also allegedly failed to adhere to its environmental licence by not disposing of its lime kiln dust in a wet state.

Cockburn faces a fine of up to USD486,650 for the pollution charge while it could be slapped with a USD121,300 fine for contravening its environmental licence. The company will appear in Fremantle Magistrates Court on 21 October 2011.